She'll Follow Him Anywhere
by enchantment1972
Summary: Rose and the human Doctor have been together for one month on the parallel world. The Doctor has come up against the first obstacle that his human half can't overcome, and it's not Jackie Tyler. Well, not completely. **First of the Forever After series*


**Author's Note:** This is just a little something that came to me over the weekend. For fellow non-British folk, "meat and two veg" is British slang for a gentleman's private parts and "have a butchers" means to take a look at something.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything in relation to Dr. Who.

It had been a month since the human Doctor and Rose had been dropped off in the parallel world. The month had been spent setting up the doctor's identity, finding a position at Torchwood that suited him, and generally making plans for their future.

Tonight was the first chance that they had to sit down to dinner with her parents and just relax. After dinner, they sat around the living room and enjoyed some of Pete's best cognac.

Pete topped off the Doctor's glass and asked him about his previous travels in an effort to get to know him better. Over the next two hours, the Doctor regaled everyone with past exploits that were even new to Rose.

After each story, the Doctor held out his glass for a refill. His last tale ended with the fight with the Sycorax leader on Christmas day.

He held up his right hand. "Yup," popping the p. "That's the hand right there, Pete. My right hand fighting hand," he slurred his words with a wink and a grin at Pete.

Pete looked on amused while Jackie and Rose looked at the Doctor and then at each other, both wondering how the half Time Lord would cope with his first hangover.

Jackie pulled the bottle away from the Doctor when he reached for it again.

"Perhaps you've had enough, love. You don't want to overdo it." Jackie spoke to him as gently as she would a newborn, which technically was what she considered him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Jackie! I'm fine! Now top me up. I haven't even got to the part about the satsuma. Remember Howard the butcher, Jackie?" he spilled out all at once.

The Doctor finally dropped his glass back onto the table and turned to Pete, who looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Can you imagine?" continued the Doctor. "Can you imagine the shock of finding a satsuma in one's dressing gown?" His snickers quickly turned into a loud guffaw.

"Being a butcher, you would have thought he would carry a piece of meat. Yes! That's it! Not just meat, but meat and two veg, eh Jackie?" questioned the Doctor.

He sent a blurry eyed leer towards Jackie as he asked her, "Can you clarify that for us, Jackie? I mean," he queried with an insidious grin, "did you have yourself a butchers?"

Pete closed his eyes and Rose groaned and dropped her head into her hands. Since the Doctor's vision had lost more and more focus, nobody was to bear witness as Jackie stood up from the table with a grimace and strode straight over to the Doctor.

"**SLAP!" **

Everyone heard it resound throughout the room but only the Doctor felt it. At least for the few moments that he was still conscious.

The next thing he knew, he awoke on the couch in the den and heard the rattling of cups on a tray. He opened his eyes and found that Rose was the one who had brought in the tray. She caught his gaze and returned it with a broad smile and her tongue poking out between her teeth.

"Feeling a bit rough, Doctor?" she asked while setting down the tray.

"More like roughed up. Bloody hell, Rose! What's wrong with your mother? It seems that I can't even have a civil conversation with the woman without it ending in a slap!" moaned the Doctor as he sat up and rubbed his cheek.

Rose laughed and gave him a disbelieving stare. "Civil? Is that what you called it?"

The Doctor just looked back at her in confusion.

"Oh. Well." Rose said as she started pouring the coffee. "As rude as you are, I suppose it was considered a civil conversation." Rose held out a cup to the Doctor. "Here, I brought you some coffee to sober you up."

"I believe the slap achieved that quite nicely, thank you," remarked the Doctor with a pout as he ignored the cup.

The Doctor remained unusually quiet as Rose placed the cup in front of him. "Is something bothering you, Doctor? Besides the obvious…" as she gestured towards his cheek.

"I was just thinking of tonight, Rose," he replied. "I've always been able to metabolize human liquor without any thought and now I can't even handle a few glasses. How rubbish am I?" he asked and dropped his head onto the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling.

Rose took his hand and looked at him with a gentle smile. "You're not rubbish, you're new," she said. "New to human emotions, human feelings and human weaknesses. You're _human_, Doctor, and I love you all the more for it."

He tilted his head towards her and asked, "Really?"

Rose's lips quirked upwards as she replied, "Really."

He still looked the slightest bit unsure and he asked again, "Really, really?"

Rose huffed in exasperation and said, "Yes, Doctor. Really, really. Anyway, being human is a permanent thing, yeah? It's going to take time to adjust because you're stuck with it now."

The Doctor gazed at Rose and thought of a time long ago. "Being stuck human with you? That's not so bad," he said with a smile.

Rose's eyes misted over and she told him, "Oh, I do love you. My Doctor."

The Doctor's own eyes went moist and he squeezed her fingers tightly in his grasp. He tried to convey all of the love that he felt for her in that one look.

His voice was gruff as he told her, "I love you too, Rose. Regardless of the face or body, be it with two hearts or one, I will always love you. It does need saying and I will continue to say it every day for the rest our lives together, if you will only allow me the privilege. Rose Tyler, would you do me the honor of…" he ended abruptly.

His eyes widened as he stiffened and turned as white as a sheet. It was Rose's turn to be shocked when he shoved her back against the couch and bolted out of the room.

Unable to avoid hearing the unpleasant sounds from the next door bathroom, Rose giggled at the humor of the situation and went to help the Doctor. She knew when she met him that she would follow him anywhere. Even to the loo.

**THE END**


End file.
